On Today’s List: Three Great Books on How Labor Shaped—and is Shaping—America
There are issues and ideas from all points of the compass that affect our lives as state workers and members of a family and a community. In today’s rapidly changing landscape, it’s never been more important to stay informed, but between work and family responsibilities, it’s not always easy to do.
Every week in Union Update, we’ll be posting news and feature articles, books, podcasts, and more, submitted by your fellow workers, focused on issues that affect all of us. We hope you find the following content informative and insightful.
This week, we’re recommending some great reads for your bookshelf (or Kindle!). We’ve provided a link to these books at Amazon.com … but they’re available wherever you buy your books.
There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America by Philip Dray
From the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, the first real factories in America, to the triumph of unions in the twentieth century and their waning influence today, the contest between labor and capital for their share of American bounty has shaped our national experience. See it on Amazon.
A History of America in Ten Strikes by Erik Loomis
Powerful and accessible, A History of America in Ten Strikes challenges all of our contemporary assumptions around labor, unions, and American workers. In this brilliant book, labor historian Erik Loomis recounts ten critical workers’ strikes in American labor history that everyone needs to know about. See it on Amazon.
Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor by Steven Greenhouse
Award-winning journalist and author Steven Greenhouse guides us through the key episodes and trends in history that are essential to understanding some of our nation’s most pressing problems, including increased income inequality, declining social mobility, and the concentration of political power in the hands of the wealthy few. See it on Amazon.